Oral Answers to Questions
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years ago)
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Michael Moore
I acknowledge the hon. Lady’s work in the voluntary sector, and I believe that it has a very important role to play not just in getting people back to work but in many aspects of Scottish life. Let us remember that the Work programme is a step change in the provision of support for people to get back into work. We are determined to ensure that we tackle all the problems that have afflicted different parts of Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
The invitation to tender document was absolutely explicit about the criteria, and they were the ones against which bids were measured. As far as the future involvement of the voluntary sector is concerned, the two preferred bidders have indicated that they fully intend to engage with the sector.
Mr Speaker
I call Sheila Gilmore, whose question has been grouped with Questions 1 and 9. She is not here.
Angus Robertson (Moray) (SNP)
Does the Secretary of State agree that to secure economic recovery, it is important to listen to the views of the job creators so that we minimise the number of people needing support from the Department for Work and Pensions in the first place?
David Mundell
The hon. Gentleman would have some credibility in asking that question had he not repeatedly raised in the Chamber the issue of the costs of petrol and fuel oil in his constituency. It is clear that the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary got the balance right in the Budget between the taxation of the oil industry and the taxation of the motorist. If the hon. Gentleman wants to tell his constituents that they should be paying 6p a litre more on their fuel, he is welcome to do so.
Mr Brian H. Donohoe (Central Ayrshire) (Lab)
5. By what date he expects the level of unemployment in Scotland to begin to reduce.
David Mundell
The Secretary of State and I are in regular contact with the banks operating in Scotland to ensure that Merlin goes forward as envisaged. We are also willing to take up individual cases such as the one that my hon. Friend mentions, which, if he refers it to us, we will refer directly to the banks in question. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place in the Chamber. It is very discourteous, and I am sure that the House wishes to hear Mr Greg Hands.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Will the Minister join me in welcoming the report by the Independent Commission on Banking, under Sir John Vickers, and will he remind the House who, in the last Parliament, awarded Sir Fred Goodwin a knighthood for services to banking?
Michael Moore
I am afraid that I did not hear the hon. Gentleman’s question. I wonder whether he could repeat it.
Sir Robert Smith (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD)
The Secretary of State may know that the Energy and Climate Change Committee has had meetings with investors in the renewables sector in which concerns have been raised that long-term capital investments are involved, and that if the price of carbon were to change in investors’ favour, future Governments might introduce a windfall tax to compensate electricity consumers. Will my right hon. Friend reinforce the point made in the debate on Treasury matters last night that the Government want to engage with the oil and gas industry to ensure that any concerns about the stability of the tax regime can be dealt with, so that we can have a constructive engagement with the aim of maximising investment in all energy futures for this country?
Michael Moore
My hon. Friend makes an important point. I followed his contribution and that of my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce) last night with great interest. As my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury pointed out, their thoughtful and constructive contribution to the debate was very worth while. We are properly engaged with the oil and gas sector, as we will be with the renewables sector, to ensure that we can put in place long-term sustainable tax regimes and other arrangements that will help to boost those important parts of the British economy.
Mr Speaker
Order. The Minister for Children is under no obligation to behave like a child. It is not required.
Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)
Q2. Does the Prime Minister agree with the comment of Lord Glasman, special adviser to the Leader of the Opposition, that the last Government lied to the British people about the extent of immigration?
Oral Answers to Questions
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place in the Chamber. Let us have a bit of order for Fiona O’Donnell.
Fiona O'Donnell
Like you, Mr Speaker, I am feeling in a generous mood, so I will give the Under-Secretary of State a third chance to redeem himself. The Prime Minister’s excuse for removing the mobility component was that it addressed an anomaly between those in hospital and those in residential care. Will the Under-Secretary of State at least acknowledge that residential care homes are based on a social model, and not a medical model?
Mr Speaker
Order. There is still far too much noise in the Chamber. It is very unfair on people asking questions and Ministers answering them.
Margaret Curran (Glasgow East) (Lab)
11. What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect on the economy in Scotland of the increase in the standard rate of value added tax.
Ian Mearns
I am sure the whole House will join me in passing on their condolences to the family and friends of our fallen service personnel.
The Prime Minister will be aware that today is no-smoking day. Will he join me in congratulating the organisers of the “Making Smoking History” lantern parade which takes place this evening in Wrekenton, a part of my constituency that is particularly blighted by that addiction? Will he also comment on British Lung Foundation research that shows that more than half of children surveyed across the UK have been exposed to cigarette smoke in cars, and that 86% of children want adults—
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point with great passion. I certainly support no-smoking day, and unlike in some previous years, I hope to meet its requirements in full this year. His point about smoking in front of children and babies and smoking in cars is a good one. Whatever people have done in the past, the facts show that they really should change their behaviour. I am not sure whether it is possible to legislate in that area—we need a change in attitudes, which he is helping to lead with the British Lung Foundation and others.
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)
Q4. The coalition Government’s principal objective is to cut the eye-watering deficit that we inherited from the previous Government, yet we want to support people on low and middle incomes. [Interruption.] Can the Prime Minister confirm how many people will see their incomes—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I apologise for having to interrupt. Members must be heard when asking their questions, and the Prime Minister heard in answering them. It is a very simple principle. I think that the hon. Gentleman has completed his question, and we are grateful to him.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
Q10. The Prime Minister is beefing up his office to help sell the Government’s unpopular and wasteful £2 billion reorganisation of the NHS. Does it concern him that Baroness Williams of Crosby feels that she is“under no obligation to support policies outside the agreement”?The Prime Minister’s Back Benchers do not want this; no one wants it. Is it not possible for the Prime Minister to halt—
The Prime Minister
The questions drafted by Labour Members have got a bit longer. I think that those in the Labour Whips Office need to go to remedial writing school.
If the hon. Gentleman was asking a question about the NHS—as I think he was—and asking who supports the NHS reforms, let me say this. I think that one of the greatest proponents of the NHS reforms is Labour’s shadow Health Secretary, the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey), who has said:
“The general aims of reform are sound—greater role for clinicians in commissioning care, more involvement of patients, less bureaucracy and greater priority on improving health outcomes—and are common ground between patients, health professions and political parties.”
If life gets too tough for the right hon. Gentleman on the Opposition Front Bench, there is always plenty of room over here.
Scotland Bill
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years, 3 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I have to inform the House that I have selected the amendment on the Order Paper.
Oral Answers to Questions
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years, 3 months ago)
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David Mowat
Calman acknowledged that the Barnett formula no longer reflected need. As a consequence, constituencies such as mine—Warrington South—receive many millions of pounds per year less than equivalent constituencies in Scotland. Does the Minister have any plans to amend the Scotland Bill to put the allocation on to a basis of need?
Mr Speaker
All I will say to the Secretary of State is that that question is very wide of the considerations of the Calman commission, and I feel sure that he will be dextrous enough to provide an orderly reply.
Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) (SNP)
The problem is that the recommendations of the Calman commission are not being implemented—they are not in the Scotland Bill. The proposal on the aggregates levy, the proposals for the devolution of the marine environment and the proposal on air passenger duty have all been abandoned. Is that a lack of imagination on the part of this Government, or merely a lack of ambition for Scotland?
David Mundell
Higher education in Scotland is devolved. The UK Government are taking account of the impact of their policies in Scotland, but I tend to agree with Sir Andrew Cubie when he said that the Scottish Government were behind the curve in responding to the Browne report and bringing forward their own proposals. They are followers, not leaders. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There is a constant hubbub in the Chamber. People outside must think that it is extremely discourteous.
Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)
The Minister should be aware that what is not devolved are decisions on research funding—decisions that are arrived at here in Westminster and which will have an impact, not least for those Russell group universities in Scotland. Will he give us an undertaking that he will ensure that the Secretary of State for Scotland stays closely in touch with Mike Russell’s all-party working group at Holyrood, so that whatever the political composition after May, we get an outcome for Scottish universities that does not replicate the errors of policy judgment that have sadly been arrived at here?
Michael Moore
As we have made clear, we have inherited an arrangement with RBS that was put in place by the last Government—the hon. Gentleman’s Government, not this one—to pay bonuses at market rates this year. We want to see bonuses lower this year than last year. That is absolutely clear-cut. As far as customer service is concerned, the hon. Gentleman makes an important point, and I am sure that RBS managers will have heard it.
Mr Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West) (Lab/Co-op)
With the collapse of the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland, does the Minister agree that an independent Scotland would be as successful as Ireland and Iceland at the moment?
Mike Crockart
I thank the Secretary of State for his answer. Does he agree that investment worth £6 million in Scottish companies by the largest energy consumer in the world will provide a perfect showcase for the benefits of green technology? Does not the fact that Edinburgh seems set to see the creation of a renewable energy cluster in Leith docks further the case for the city to be the location for the new green investment bank? [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. That is unfair on the hon. Member asking the question, and on the Minister answering it. It also sends out a very bad signal to those listening to our proceedings.
Michael Moore
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
On my hon. Friend’s first point, may I just emphasise what I said earlier, which was that the vice-premier was very impressed by what he saw of Scotland’s renewable energy sector when he visited Edinburgh, and not only by the presentations that he saw about the country’s potential but specifically by seeing the Pelamis factory in Leith? My hon. Friend also makes a strong and compelling case for the green investment bank, and we will announce details of that shortly. We look forward to making an announcement about its location at an appropriate moment.
David Mundell
The Calman commission looked at these issues across the full spectrum and determined that there was no need to make any changes in respect of agriculture, other than in certain aspects of animal health funding. [Interruption.]
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
14. What recent representations he has received from the Scottish Executive on the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament.
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Is not the lesson from the noble Baroness Thatcher that, when you have set an economic course, you should stick to it—“there is no alternative”?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. In the spending review, we had to take difficult decisions, particularly on welfare and pay, but as a result we are able to expand the number of apprenticeships to a record level, an extra 75,000. Yes, the growth figures are disappointing, but manufacturing and exports are up, and we are starting to rebalance the economy away from the unsustainable booms that we had under the Labour Government.
Mr Speaker
Order. Before the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane) asks his urgent question, I appeal to hon. and right hon. Members who are leaving the Chamber to do so quickly and quietly, so that those who are interested in the next business can attend properly to it. A quiet and speedy exit is required.
Oral Answers to Questions
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. I apologise for interrupting the Secretary of State. I do not know what the hon. Member for Blyth Valley (Mr Campbell) had for breakfast this morning, but I am not sure that it has had the desired effect. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Gentleman must not rant at the Government Chief Whip or anybody else. He must calm himself—it is better for his health if he does.
Michael Moore
If I can repeat what I was saying before your intervention, Mr Speaker, I listen carefully to a range of opinion from across business and different sectors of Scottish society. The business community was well represented in the Calman commission, which produced and supported the proposal. We will continue to listen to a range of opinion, but we have no intention of devolving powers over corporation tax.
Ann McKechin
Unfortunately, yet again Scotland’s youth are not the Secretary of State’s priority. His party does not think twice about dancing on the head of a pin. In its autumn edition of “Scottish News Extra”, which is turning out to be one of Scotland’s better reads, his colleague, the Business Secretary, is described as
“launching a scathing attack on the previous government’s unfair tuition fees which still have to be paid by Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK. He likened tuition fees to the infamous poll tax.”
Now that his colleague has said that he may abstain on the forthcoming vote to increase tuition fees in England to £9,000, will the Secretary of State confirm whether he will support the increase, whether he will vote against it in support of the 3,000-plus Scottish students who are directly affected, or whether he will be absent again from the vote?
Mr Speaker
Order. In replying, the Secretary of State must bear in mind that we are referring to economic policy rather than higher education policy.
Michael Moore
It is interesting that the hon. Lady interpreted the question by seeking to get away from anything that might focus attention on Labour’s record on the economy and on our determination to create the conditions that will get us back to sustainable growth for Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)
For every job vacancy in Lanarkshire there are 10 people on jobseeker’s allowance. Indeed, in Motherwell and Wishaw, that figure rises to 12 or 13. What priority will the Secretary of State give to the Lanarkshire economy to ensure that it gets back on track as quickly as possible? [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There are far too many private conversations of a noisy character taking place in the Chamber. I want to hear the Secretary of State.
Michael Moore
I recognise the challenges faced by Lanarkshire and other parts of the Scottish economy and by those who are looking for a job. As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, I visited Lanarkshire recently and met people who are working their way into employment, and students at Motherwell college. We have to keep focused, and we have to put in place the right conditions to ensure that we achieve a sustainable recovery across the country. I believe that the measures we are taking will ensure that that happens.
David Mundell
What I acknowledge is that the Labour Government left us with a deficit £12 billion larger than they had told us, and that if we do not tackle that deficit everyone in Scotland will be worse off. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. This sort of noise is very discourteous. I want to hear Fiona O’Donnell.
Fiona O’Donnell (East Lothian) (Lab)
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The voluntary sector in Scotland plays a vital role in supporting some of our most vulnerable families. The increase in VAT will cost Scotland’s voluntary sector dearly. What is the Minister actually doing to support that sector, so that it can deliver his vision of a big society?
Edward Miliband
Okay, Mr. Speaker—[[Hon. Members: “Ooh!”] You can rewrite history for only so long. Let us be—[Interruption.] Let us be absolutely clear about this—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. We are wasting the time of Back-Bench Members. Let us hear the Leader of the Opposition.
Edward Miliband
The deficit was 2.5% of national income before the crisis—the recession—hit all around the world. It went up all around the world; it was a global economic recession. The question is: should we cut too far and too fast, which is what the Prime Minister is doing, so that there are four years of sluggish recovery—the most sluggish recovery from recession in 40 years? Why does the Prime Minister not answer the question? Is this the most sluggish recovery from recession in Britain for the last 40 years? Yes or no?
The Prime Minister
Not waving, but drowning. My mother is still with us, so she is able to testify that what the right hon. Gentleman has just claimed is not literally true, but let me say this: I would rather be a child of Thatcher than a son of Brown. [Interruption.]
Oral Answers to Questions
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. May I suggest that the Minister’s reply should be focused exclusively—and, I hope, briefly—on the policy of the Government rather than on that of the official Opposition?
David Mundell
The Government will have noted my hon. Friend’s representations.
Michael Moore
I am happy to repeat what I made clear to the hon. Gentleman when we were in Moray: we will work with him, the taskforce and others who are interested in the future of the Moray bases to ensure we resolve things as well as possible. May I also assure the hon. Gentleman, particularly since he has raised this issue separately this week, that no decision has been taken on the future of the Tornadoes at RAF Lossiemouth?
Mr Speaker
Order. As usual at this time, far too many private conversations are taking place in the Chamber. That is very unfair on the hon. Member asking the question and the Minister answering it. Let us have a bit of order, therefore.
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
9. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the implications for cross-border students of the Government’s proposals for higher education funding.
Michael Moore
I am absolutely astounded by the hon. Gentleman’s charge because, unlike the previous Government, we have gone out of our way to work with the Scottish Government to ensure that this takes place. [Interruption.] We cannot get around the fact that there are fundamental disagreements about the way we see the constitutional settlement developing, but I say to him that we have been sharing information and discussing things with his ministerial colleagues in Scotland regularly, and we will continue to do so—I hope that they will engage.
Mr Speaker
Order. There is still far too much noise in the Chamber. I want to hear Mr Frank Doran.
Mr Frank Doran (Aberdeen North) (Lab)
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The Secretary of State will be aware that—
Mr Frank Doran (Aberdeen North) (Lab)
12. When he last had discussions with representatives of the oil and gas industries on the future of that industry in Aberdeen.
The Prime Minister
If we are prepared to pay—as we are—£20,000 in housing benefit, there is no reason why anyone should be left without a home. The Leader of the Opposition has talked about economic policy and cuts, and we now know from the Labour party’s own memorandum what its cuts would be. This is not the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Government or the Conservative party; this is a Labour memorandum. It said that the cuts—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I apologise for interrupting the Prime Minister. Members must remain calm—if they are not serene, then they must at any rate be calm at all times. We must hear the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister
The people responsible for making the mess should be quiet when they are told how it will be cleared up. The Labour memorandum states that the cuts implied by its spending plans would have been £44 billion in 2014-15. Those are the Labour party’s cuts, which we are having to implement. I was always told that if you have got nothing to say, it is better not to say it.
Mrs Hodgson
For instance, we would have chosen to tax the bankers more heavily in order to avoid the shameful attack yesterday on women and children in the form of the abolition of the child trust fund and the health in pregnancy grant. Does the Prime Minister agree with his Chancellor’s choices continually to penalise women and children in that way?
Please, Mr Speaker—
Mrs Hodgson
Please, Mr Speaker, will you ask the Prime Minister not continually to blame the Opposition? He is in government now—
The Prime Minister
I am afraid to say that the choice the Opposition have made is not to make any choices—absolutely none at all. The hon. Lady mentions the importance of taxing the banks, but the point I would make is that we introduced a bank levy—within six months of taking office, that has been sorted out. The Opposition had 13 years. The Leader of the Opposition either sat in the Treasury, as one of the chief economic advisers, or sat in the Government, and they did absolutely nothing to introduce that bank levy. Was he arguing for it across the Cabinet table? We have no idea. It did not happen; we have done it. We are asking the banks to pay a fair amount. What we should be focusing on is getting the revenue out of banks so that they contribute to rebuilding our country after, frankly, the mess it was left in.
Mr Speaker
I call Bob Russell. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] Order. I want to hear Mr Russell too.
Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)
Earlier the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition had fun and games over housing benefit cuts. This is not a laughing matter for the thousands of children who could well become homeless. I am confident that this was an unintended consequence because the cost of putting children in bed-and-breakfast accommodation is greater than housing benefit. Will the Prime Minister look at this again, please?
Oral Answers to Questions
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years, 9 months ago)
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Graham Evans
In Scotland, there are urban seats that have an electorate of between 50,000 and 80,000; that disparity cannot be justified by extreme geography. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is disappointing that the previous Government had so little regard for the fundamental principle that every vote should have equal value? [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. First, some questions are too long, and secondly, at this early stage, the atmosphere is far too raucous. Right hon. and hon. Members need to calm down.
The Comptroller of Her Majesty's Household (Mr Alistair Carmichael)
This is Scottish questions!
David Mundell
I advise my hon. Friend that the Scottish Government have no proposals for any major schemes on the A1 trunk road in Scotland, but I will speak to colleagues in the Department for Transport about the need to liaise on cross-border routes. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place in the Chamber, and the decibel level is far too high. I wish to hear the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty).
Thomas Docherty
Thousands of highly prized, highly skilled and highly paid jobs in manufacturing and engineering are dependent on the aircraft carriers going ahead. Back in Fife, all political parties, including the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, support the building of the second aircraft carrier. The Secretary of State’s former special adviser said that scrapping the second aircraft carrier would be crazy. Will the Secretary of State therefore come to Fife and meet the management and work force at Babcock during the summer recess, so that they can present their case—
Michael Moore
I join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to the skills and expertise of the engineering sector, not just in defence but in so many other parts of the Scottish and UK economies. I fully understand the concerns that he is raising, and many of these issues are being considered as part of the strategic defence review. He might also be aware that I am planning to visit Babcock in the next few weeks.
The Deputy Prime Minister
That was not a question—it was a sort of dissertation. [Interruption.] The right hon. Gentleman talks about openness and transparency. It would have been more transparent if Lord Mandelson and his Government had admitted that there was no money. [Interruption.] Hon. Members should not take it from me; the position was summed up rather well in Sheffield Forgemasters—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I must appeal for calm. I can see Members ranting at the tops of their voices at the Deputy Prime Minister. It is wrong, and it must stop. Whatever the feeling, it must stop. The public detest it and so do I.
The Deputy Prime Minister
If the right hon. Gentleman thinks that is a lot of noise, he should try it from the Bench I formerly occupied—it is even worse.
Let me cite what a worker on the shop floor of Sheffield Forgemasters said in Sheffield’s The Star only last week. He said that on a visit by Lord Mandelson to Sheffield Forgemasters:
“I asked Lord Mandelson, if the country was near to bankruptcy, where would the money come from? He turned away to speak to my gaffer. I asked again and he said very”—
Mr Speaker
Order. I am sorry to interrupt the Deputy Prime Minister, but that is very discursive and not relevant to the precise responsibility of a member of the Government. [Interruption.] Order. I do not require any guidance. We will leave it there.
Mr Straw
Let us consider affordability—not the reason that the Deputy Prime Minister and the Prime Minister gave originally, but affordability. The Deputy Prime Minister says that he is concerned about affordability, but we are talking about a loan, not a grant, to help Sheffield Forgemasters build Britain’s future in low-carbon manufacturing. He is not prepared to make that loan, but why is he prepared to acquiesce in spending £550 million a year on so-called tax breaks for marriage—a policy that he described as “patronising drivel”?
Mr Speaker
Order. I want to hear what the noble Lord has been saying. Let us hear it. There is far too much noise.
Mr Straw
Lord Ashcroft says today,
“even in the Liberal Democrat-held seats, less than a quarter of voters thought the Lib Dems were having a significant impact on the Government’s agenda.”
First, the Deputy Prime Minister blamed the cancellation of the loan on Sheffied Forgemasters’ unwillingness to dilute the shareholding, then he said that it was unaffordable. Last week he told the Yorkshire Post that the company did not need a loan after all. [Interruption.] I am not surprised that hon. Members are baying, because there has been one excuse after another. He said—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. Members are beside themselves. I am quite worried about their health. They really do need to calm down. [Interruption.] Order. Let me simply say to the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw) that I want some time to be left for Back Benchers.
Mr Straw
The Deputy Prime Minister said to the Yorkshire Post:
“Forgemasters can find the money for expansion elsewhere”.
Now that we know that it cannot find the money—as it said yesterday—has not the whole edifice of the Deputy Prime Minister’s argument been demolished? Why on earth will he not reconsider this ludicrous decision?
Claire Perry (Devizes) (Con)
On the issue of progress, will the Deputy Prime Minister—
Mr Speaker
Order. I think that the right hon. Gentleman has had his allotted span. [Hon. Members: “No.”] I apologise. It felt like it. I call Jack Straw.
Mr Straw
With apologies to the hon. Member for Devizes (Claire Perry), Mr Speaker.
Just over a month before the election, the Deputy Prime Minister warned about the dangers of policies of the kind that he is now following. He said:
“just imagine the reaction of my constituents in South West Sheffield.”
People like that are going to ask, “Who are these people who are telling us that they are suddenly going to take our jobs away? Who are these people?” Well, now we know who these people are. Are they not the Liberal Democrats—the people who are giving power to the Conservatives without any influence over the policies that they used to oppose?
Mr Speaker
Order. The House really must start to behave itself. We have made slow progress—[Interruption.] Order. That progress must get faster from now on, with short questions and short answers. I call Claire Perry.
Claire Perry
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Third time lucky.
Can the Deputy Prime Minister tell us what the coalition Government have done in 10 short weeks to preserve the civil liberties of the British people—liberties that have been so cruelly eroded by the Labour party over the past 13 years?
The Deputy Prime Minister
I agree with my hon. Friend. The authoritarian record of the Labour Government is one of the most dismal records in modern British history, featuring the illegal invasion of Iraq, the turning of our prisons into overcrowded colleges of crime, the decimation of our civil liberties, the invasion of our privacy, and the roll-out of a surveillance state without any checks or balances; and look at what we have managed—
Mr Speaker
Order. I thought that the right hon. Gentleman was going to talk about what the present Government had done, not what the last Government had done; and he is now coming to an end, I am sure.
The Deputy Prime Minister
This Government have scrapped ID cards, they will table a freedom Bill, and they have launched a counter-terrorism review to create the right balance between security and liberty.
The Deputy Prime Minister
I certainly agree that just because poverty in rural areas is sometimes more invisible than more visible poverty in some of our inner-city areas, it does not mean that we should not make real efforts to address it. It is a matter of concern that under the previous Government a child from a poor family in an inner city area tended to get much more money allocated to their education than a child from a poor family in a rural area. That is why we are so determined to introduce a pupil premium that will provide extra resources to children from the most deprived backgrounds no matter where they live in our country.
Mr Speaker
Before I call the Foreign Secretary to give a statement, I appeal to hon. and right hon. Members whose lungs are probably exhausted now anyway to leave the Chamber quickly and quietly so that the House can hear the Foreign Secretary.
Oral Answers to Questions
John Bercow Excerpts(13 years, 10 months ago)
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Michael Moore
Mr Speaker, you will not be surprised that I reject the right hon. Gentleman’s analysis of the situation. Like him, I care very deeply about unemployment, not least among young people, in Scotland and anywhere else in the United Kingdom. The reality, however, is that the future jobs fund was set up on an unsustainable basis. We need to ensure that we get a sustainable basis for the future of youth unemployment support. Those proposals will come forward in very close order. In the meantime, before he sets up too many scare stories, let us remember that existing bids will be honoured under the future jobs fund.
Mr Speaker
Order. We really do need a bit of order in the House. There are far too many private conversations taking place. It is a very unattractive spectacle so far as those outside the Chamber are concerned.
Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)
4. If he will discuss with the Scottish Executive the merits of a review of firearms legislation applicable to Scotland.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (David Mundell)
All Members of this House share the sense of shock and disbelief at the tragic events that unfolded in Cumbria on 2 June. The hon. Gentleman must have felt this more than most given his close personal associations with Whitehaven, and I personally offer my condolences to him and to the families that have been so cruelly affected.
In Prime Minister’s questions on 3 June, the Prime Minister confirmed that the Association of Chief Police Officers would be supporting a peer review, to be conducted by national police experts, on firearms licensing, the police firearms response and firearms tactics. Firearms legislation is a reserved matter. As the Home Secretary told the House in her statement on 3 June, we will await the police report before we embark on and lead a debate about the gun laws across Great Britain.
Mr Speaker
Order. We must now speed up. Some of these answers are simply too long and it will not do.
Thomas Docherty
I thank the Minister for his kind words and welcome him to his new post. The House may wish to note the support given by Scottish police forces to the Cumbria constabulary in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Will he agree to meet a cross-party delegation from Scotland once ACPO and its counterparts in England and Wales have made their submission to the Home Office, so that we can convey the very strong feelings of the people of Scotland about firearms legislation?
Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)
May I, too, welcome the Secretary of State to his new post? I am sure he is aware that his predecessor in the previous Government visited my constituency on a number of occasions to see at first hand the importance of the computer games industry in Dundee. The former Chancellor gave a commitment in his Budget to tax breaks for that industry. Can the Minister guarantee that the Government of whom he is now a member will honour that commitment?
Mr Speaker
Order. If the Minister could hear that, he has very good hearing. May I make an appeal to the House? I know that it is in a state of eager anticipation of Prime Minister’s questions, but it is very unfair to the Member on his or her feet, and to the Minister. Let us have a bit of order. That is what the public expect.
David Mundell
Like the Secretary of State, I do not want to pre-empt next week’s Budget, but I am sure that the Chancellor will have heard the hon. Gentleman’s representations.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
Q8. Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to all who work for the health service, but will he also examine the circumstances in which patients are often discharged from hospital only to be readmitted very soon afterwards? The assessment for continuous health care has become something of a postcode lottery. Will the Prime Minister examine that as well, to ensure that such care is paid for on the basis of clinical need?
The Prime Minister
Thank you, Mr. Speaker; the one answer that I will give is this. I know that there is a big problem with hospitals discharging patients, sometimes to meet their own targets—including financial targets—without thinking of the longer-term consequences if those patients have to return. That is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has announced that hospitals will be responsible for patients not just during their treatment but for the 30 days following their discharge, so that we can better link health and social care to ensure that people leave hospital at the right time, in the right way, and for good.
Mr Speaker
Order. It is not against the rules of the House for a Government Back Bencher to support the Government; it is not that odd.
The Prime Minister
Mr Speaker, we all remember you doing that very well. My hon. Friend’s invitation is a kind one. The commitment that we have made to maintain health spending is very important. I want to see community hospitals and district general hospitals thrive under this Government.